The Worst Witch 2017 - A Bottle of Nitroglycerine with Blonde Hair
by the stargate time traveller
Summary: Tied in with Hallow Sisters On My Mind's story Permanent Mother - Making a Home, where Ethel and Sybil are now under Esmerelda's care, a talk with Miss Hardbroom sets Ethel off like a bottle of nitroglycerine.


Disclaimer - I don't own The Worst Witch in any incarnation, I just own this one-shot.

I've been trying to work on this idea for a long time, but I've come up with this one. This story ties in, with kind permission from Hallow Sisters On My Mind, with their story where Esmerelda becomes the guardian of Ethel and Sybil, and Ethel has to cope with the prejudices from the rest of the school, and the stupidity of the teachers.

Enjoy.

* * *

A Bottle of Nitroglycerine with Blond Hair.

Ethel sighed in relief when Potions was finally over and done with. Honestly, she didn't see the point behind Miss Hardbroom habit of making her stand over her cauldron when she had so many problems standing still given how she could barely walk anymore, and she needed to use crutches to help her move more easily after she had fallen from the broomstick.

She knew Miss Hardbroom was unfair more often than she would have wanted but did the potions teacher have to make her disdain so blatant?

After a while the middle Hallow sister decided it didn't really matter - it made sense school would be no different from everywhere else since Esme had taken both her and Sybil out of their home, and Miss Hardbroom and Miss Cackle were never going to be her friends, and she didn't want them to be since they didn't treat her with respect any more than they treated Esmerelda with respect.

Ethel had laughed when Esmerelda had told her about their meeting when Esmerelda had no magic (Ethel still couldn't believe she had listened to the lies and the half-baked promises of Agatha Cackle, but the older witch had seemed so sincere, especially since she herself was a victim of that stupid code where the eldest was the one to inherit everything; it didn't matter now. Ursula and Triton Hallow had disowned Esme when she had taken them out of their abuse, so Ethel no longer had any reasons to be envious or jealous of her sisters), and how Miss Cackle missed her.

_What a lie._

Miss Cackle hadn't spoken or enquired about Esme the entire year, but making delusional lies was nothing new on the old has-been's part. It was just another reason why Ethel didn't respect the older witch. Miss Hardbroom was no better; Ethel was convinced there was something wrong with the brains of the two witches, but she just wasn't sure what it could be.

Ethel hung around while the rest of the class piled out of the door - she had learnt it was safer and less dangerous for her if she went out last since people behind her would jeer at her as they had done in that supermarket, or they might deliberately trip her up knowing she wouldn't be able to get back up again quickly enough, and there was little she or Esmerelda could do about those cases, except to be careful.

As she used her crutches to help her walk towards the door after the worst of the crowd had left the Potions lab, Ethel sensed rather than saw the look she was getting from Miss Hardbroom. Nothing new there; HB had stared at her beadily through those narrow eyes of hers just like everyone else, only she had not laughed about it like everyone else.

_Its little wonder everyone stares at me like I'm some circus freak_, Ethel thought to herself sadly as she headed out of the door when the so-called teachers don't hide their disgust for me.

"Ethel Hallow, I have something to say to you," Miss Hardbroom's voice snapped out when Ethel was close to the threshold of the lab.

The blonde witch held back the urge to sigh - she knew if she showed any exasperation with the woman then HB would either ignore her, or she would be her usual acerbic self. Ethel didn't care if HB was angry with her or not, she had discovered she no longer cared one way or another what the teachers thought of her even if the rest of the teachers had either taken a neutral stance or they helped her as best as they could. She had too much on her mind as it was.

Ethel turned around and hobbled back to the desk, swearing to herself she would never take walking for granted again if she ever regained the full use of her mobility. As the shards of pain shot through her legs, making the blonde girl wince in agony, Ethel became angrier towards Miss Hardbroom as she was positive the bitch had deliberately kept watch on her and waited until she was close to the door before she called her back. What made it even worse was Ethel was sure the woman knew how painful it was for her to use the crutches.

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom?" Ethel asked, hoping her 'I couldn't care less about what you're going to say to me, but I'll listen to you anyway' voice wasn't picked up upon; she knew HB and Cackle had dragged poor Esme into the castle more than once, though what they wanted Merlin only knew since their reasons went above Ethel's comprehension, so the last thing Ethel wanted was to cause Esme even more trouble in the future, though it was clear the teachers didn't care whether she or Sybil did anything right or wrong in the first place.

Miss Hardbroom's eyes narrowed noticeably and her expression became even more pinched, but thankfully she got straight to business - Ethel was more than grateful; she just wanted to get out of this classroom and get on to her next lesson, so then she could head back home to the flat.

"I just wanted to speak to you about your work, Miss Hallow," the Potions Mistress began, speaking each word slowly so she could notice Ethel's reaction. She wasn't disappointed; Ethel stiffened noticeably.

"What about my work, Miss Hardbroom?" Ethel asked robotically, unknowingly slipping into a facade she had borrowed from a TV character she had seen, some guy called 'Data,' who was apparently some kind of machine.

"I am concerned that your work is not up to standard," Hardbroom said in a clipped voice, blissfully blunt. "In fact, I watched your posture and I could see you were having problems with adding your ingredients to the cauldron. You need to master the art of standing upright, even with those….contraptions," she paused to sniff disdainfully as she looked at the crutches Ethel was using to keep upright.

_I wouldn't have problems with my potions if you let me sit down, you stupid bitch!_ the blonde witch thought to herself even as Ethel lifted an eyebrow, thankful witches were unable to look into the mind of other people otherwise HB would have seen her thoughts though truthfully the witch didn't give a damn if HB heard what she was thinking. However, while Ethel was more than willing to tell the woman what she was thinking, she didn't want to give her elder sister more grief than she needed even if Hardbroom and Cackle would drag Esme into the castle anyway.

Instead, Ethel said blandly without any sign of what she was thinking deep inside, "I'll bear that in mind."

Miss Hardbroom's expression became even more pinched, though whether she was annoyed by Ethel's reply or the fact the blonde witch hadn't lashed out, the blonde girl didn't know and didn't particularly care. Instead, her eyes seemed to glint cruelly, and Ethel sighed mentally when she realised the teacher was not going to let her go without some kind of reaction.

"You need to do better, Ethel," Hardbroom went on, and the blonde had to give the woman credit for her persistence. "Esmerelda would have been able to do better if she were in your position."

Ethel felt the familiar burning flames of her temper beginning to grow hotter; although Esme had taken her and Sybil about of the poisonous environment of their parents' so-called 'care' after they had tortured her and Sybil after they'd found her diary (even now Ethel had no idea what on Earth had possessed their parents to root around for her diary considering some of the entries were two years old), and she was grateful towards her sister who was showing them more love than their parents had shown them in all their lives, she still didn't like the very notion she was not as good at magic as Esmerelda.

But Ethel refused to give the woman the satisfaction of lashing out.

"We're all different people, Miss Hardbroom," Ethel found herself saying, amazing the blonde girl she was able to keep her cool while she sounded like her elder sister. "Maybe Esme would have been able to stand upright if she was moving about on crutches, but we're not all perfect. Now, can I please go to my next lesson?"

The moment the words were out of her mouth Ethel could see the pinched expression on Hardbroom's face become even more pinched, but there was anger in the woman's features now the teacher didn't even bother to hide. Nor did Hardbroom even bother to hide the sudden sadism in her features, and Ethel sighed mentally when she realised this was not over yet while a sneer appeared on Hardbroom's face.

_When will this ever end?_ She asked herself in frustration. _Why can't this woman just get to the fucking point?!_

"Or maybe its because you are aware you are so useless neither you nor your younger sister," Hardbroom's sneer grew even wider for a fraction of a second at the thought of Sybil, "will ever reach the potential Esmerelda reached long ago? Let's face facts Ethel, while you put in the work, you are still not as good as Esmerelda was. And Sybil is no different."

The flames of Ethel's temper were fanned even more. Taking insults to herself was hard enough at the best of times, but insults to Sybil who hadn't even done anything wrong and only wanted to do her best was enough to infuriate her.

Her emotions must have shown on her face because the triumph in Miss Hardbroom's eyes was also unhidden; Ethel kicked herself for giving the bitch what she so dearly wanted, but she was so shocked Hardbroom would go this far.

"You and Sybil both need to grow up if you want to become serious witches," Hardbroom went on, driving the knife even further into Ethel's chest to inflict pain, and it was painful because Ethel prided herself on her drive to become a witch more than anything, "you cannot continue acting like silly little girls, and that is one of the reasons why no-one respects you. You may go," she finished before looking down at her lesson plans.

The dismissal was so abrupt Ethel almost didn't register it. She was paralysed with shock and anger over what she had just heard, and she would probably have stayed rooted in that spot for the rest of the day as she struggled to understand what the bitch of a potions teacher had just said to her and in such a nasty manner if said bitch of a potions teacher didn't look up at her and her sneer returned.

"I said you are free to go. Are you hard at hearing as well as disabled?" Miss Hardbroom asked callously, knowing full well the nasty question would garner a reaction. Ethel was struggling to contain her temper. Miss Hardbroom was as subtle as a dragon in a china shop. Ethel knew the woman wanted her to lose her temper so she could have an excuse to lash out. But the blonde witch was not going to give into temptation since it wouldn't get her anywhere.

She turned and silently left the classroom, refusing to give Miss Hardbroom anymore excuse to bully her. Ethel was relieved there was still a crowd though it was thinning as the other students went to their lessons. Ethel hobbled past them, trying to ignore their never ending stares coming from everyone else, but the chattering that wasn't even hidden by the others only served to anger her after her temper had been set off by Hardbroom.

When Ethel had come back to Cackles after her accident and she lost a good portion of her mobility and was forced to rely on crutches and Sybil to help her move whenever the younger girl was free, she had been embarrassed but Ethel had learnt to cope with it since lashing out at the other girls was not going to help her. Ethel had learnt to control her temper at the school, but this was one of those moments where she really did not care about lashing out while she headed for Chanting.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Ethel's temper was seriously tried. She tried to concentrate on her work, but it was virtually impossible given how Miss Hardbroom's words continued to echo through her mind, which was only stoking the fire.

As the hours passed, Ethel refused to even put in any effort into her lessons. Ethel just didn't care anymore about her magical education, and she just didn't see the point to put any effort in if she was just going to be bullied by one of the supposed teachers. She would sit in them quietly, her fists clenched in anger.

Ethel didn't receive an outlet for her temper until she saw four students - second years by the look of them - chatting and talking about her in clear voices. Ever since her accident which had seen her using crutches and being left out of lessons such as PE, and bullying from Hardbroom who made her stand up for Potions even though she knew that standing in one place for long periods was excruciating for her, Ethel's temper had been on a knife-edge. It was made even worse when the others in the school patronised her simply because she had problems walking, but she had gotten used to it.

Ordinarily, she would have just ignored it and moved on, but after that unwanted chat with HB, well Ethel simply did not care anymore.

She glared at the girls. "WHY DON'T YOU TAKE A PICTURE? IT WILL LAST LONGER!" she screamed at them.

The girls jumped and looked terrified by the force of Ethel's anger, but the furious Hallow girl didn't care (part of her wondered why they were surprised since it was well known to the school population she had a short fuse at the best of times, but Ethel was too angry to really think about it).

Ethel was on a roll, now she'd found an outlet even though a part of her was ashamed to be lashing out at a group of first years.

"WHY CAN'T I GO ANYWHERE IN THIS SCHOOL WITHOUT SOMEONE POINTING AND STARING?! HAVEN'T YOU GOT ANYTHING BETTER TO DO?" Ethel raged, but before she could go too far she sensed someone come up to her and take her arms in their embrace to help her keep her balance.

"Ethel, calm down," Ethel heard Mildred say in her ear.

Ethel twisted her head around and she glared into Mildred's eyes. "Oh, go away, Mildred Hubble!" she snarled.

She didn't mean to lash out at Mildred since they had become more civil, but she was just so angry she didn't care who she gave a tongue lashing against.

"No, not until you calm down," Mildred's voice was level as she stared Ethel down before she lowered her voice. "Remember what I said to you in that detention, how I know what you're going through. I was telling the truth. I didn't tell you I lashed out once though it didn't do any good for me in the long run because they kept staring at me."

Ethel was still angry, but she was calming down fast since Mildred was making so much sense with her point about lashing out not doing any good for her in the long run.

Mildred mentally nodded to herself when she saw the blonde was starting to calm down. The hard part was over, now it was time to get Ethel away from here, quickly, before anything else happened. "Alright, now come on. This isn't helping," she said and she led the blonde girl away but Mildred turned to face the second year girls and sent them a dark look for making things worse for Ethel than they needed to be.

* * *

Sybil Hallow was worried as she searched the school looking for her sister, and she cursed the fact she had been born a year after Ethel had because both girls had differing schedules which made it hard for the sisters to actually see one another. Brief meetings in the corridors didn't really count since the two girls were heading into different directions or their meetings were too fleeting for them to check on each other.

Sybil had just had an exhausting and brutal potions lesson; she knew from her big sister's lessons which Esme had kindly set up for her to mitigate the worst of the abuse she had suffered because her mother could not be bothered to do her duty as a witch to see to the education of her daughters virtually every magical school had someone like HB in them to make magical education tougher for them so they actually learnt something, but truthfully potions would never be Sybil's best subject. She knew enough to get her through, but the girl was going to be thankful when she never had to see and endure Hardbroom's bullying manner.

Sybil mentally sighed, _I exchanged one bad potions teacher for another. _

Pushing the memories of her early tuition out of her mind, though she was glad Esme had taken over when the woman her mother couldn't be bothered was dismissed had caused too much damage, Sybil resumed her search for Ethel, though she had no idea where to look after potions.

Well, when the class had ended Sybil had wanted to find Ethel so then they could hang out with one another while her friends chilled out somewhere else; Clarice and Beatrice weren't fond of Ethel, but things between them had changed slightly over the months since Ethel's accident, and after Sybil had told Clarice to leave off of Ethel her friends didn't spend much time with her.

But after checking out a few of Ethel's favourite haunts in the castle, Sybil was becoming worried because she couldn't find her sister. She wasn't in the library, which was probably her favourite because it was so quiet which made it the logical place for her to look in first.

Sybil decided to just look around for her sister and hope she got lucky when she heard someone mention Ethel's name.

"I didn't know she was going to lash out like that," she overheard someone say.

"Well, we were staring at her and talking about her."

"Yeah, it's like everyone said; she would lash out. Seriously, what is it about Hallows that make them have short tempers?" Sybil gaped at how the girl was laughing like it was a great big joke to them.

"You know… maybe we should just leave Ethel alone?" Sybil overheard another witch say, but the girl was instantly shot down.

"Are you mad? She's Ethel Hallow, the kid who is evil…."

The red mist was beginning to descend on Sybil. While she was a calm mannered and nice girl, she was still a Hallow and she did have a bad temper when it was pushed the wrong way, and right now these girls who knew nothing about her sister were pushing her temper to the limits, and she didn't care one bit what would happen as a result.

She was tired of it. She was sick of everyone judging Ethel for her mistakes without even seeing for a moment she was trying really hard to become a better person, but what she was really angry about was how everyone seemed to think what Ethel was going through was something to laugh about.

Sybil was about to step forward and make her presence known before she lashed out with some good old fashioned Hallow anger, not caring if she was proving their point about her family's infamous image of being short tempered because she wanted to protect her big sister who was getting all of this hell simply because she was disabled and because she had made mistakes in the past.

Sybil stepped forward, choice words on the tip of her tongue when-

"Sybil!" She heard Mildred's voice call from behind, accompanied by the sound of running feet.

Annoyed her chance had been snatched from her, Sybil turned around, but her anger disappeared when she caught sight of Mildred's expression. The older girl looked worried and tired as though she had jogged around the school.

"What is it?" Sybil asked, knowing the element of surprise was gone and those girls knew she was there.

"Ethel needs you," Mildred said briefly.

Anger towards those girls forgotten, at least for now, Sybil's face brightened. "You know where Ethel is? Where?"

But Mildred had caught sight of the girl whom Sybil was about to lash out at, and her expression darkened noticeably. Puzzled Sybil glanced at them from over her shoulder, and she caught sight of their suddenly nervous expressions, one of the girls was looking guilty while a couple didn't look perturbed at all, and Sybil realised that the girls had said or done something to annoy Ethel, but she turned back to Mildred certain the older girl would fill in the blanks though she guessed what the problem was. She thought.

"I'll tell you on the way," Mildred responded and she lightly put one of her hands on Sybil's arm to pull her along.

Although she and her sisters were still not quite big on being touched, Sybil let herself be pulled along. It was also a testament to how much Sybil trusted Mildred to touch her at all, never mind actually be pulled along by the older girl. Sybil went with Mildred, noting that the older girl was looking over her shoulder at where they had left the girls.

"What are you doing?" Sybil asked curiously.

"I didn't want them to overhear me talking to you. I mean, they're the ones who're responsible for Ethel losing at after what Miss Hardbroom said to her," Mildred said grimly.

Sybil stopped in her tracks and looked into Mildred's eyes. "Why, what did HB say to her?"

"I don't know, but when I saw her next I saw that she was shaken and angry. Ethel was okay before, so HB must have said something to her, and lets face it that woman isn't renowned for being nice behind closed doors," Mildred's face darkened, and Sybil knew she was thinking about how HB and Cackle said one thing before turning around and brought Julie Hubble into the school the next and putting her down. Sybil knew how she felt given how the teachers just would not leave Esmerelda alone.

"Anyway," Mildred carried on after shaking off the hurt she probably felt that the teachers were betraying her trust, "I saw that she was trying hard to not lose it, but then those girls we've just left said something about her; I don't know what they said, but it was enough to set Ethel off."

Sybil closed her eyes and looked down. Why she thought, why was it no-one would leave her or her sisters alone? It's bad enough the teachers keep dragging Esme into the school, but why can't they just stop picking on Ethel? I know she's made mistakes, but why do they need to keep reminding her?

Realising Mildred was waiting for her, Sybil looked back up into the brunette's eyes. "W-where's Ethel now?" she asked anxiously.

"She's in my bedroom. She's waiting for you. I've managed to calm her down as best I could, but I felt you should get to her quickly before someone smashes the bottle of nitroglycerine with blonde hair which is Ethel," Mildred said, and the older girl was about to turn away when Sybil tilted her heading confusion.

"A bottle of what?" she asked.

Mildred turned around, blushing in embarrassment at the description of Ethel she'd just given out. "A bottle of nitroglycerine," she repeated, "it's a chemical that explodes when it is disturbed, like say when you smash the bottle against a wall or something like that."

Mildred turned and headed in the direction of her bedroom, leaving Sybil to wonder about the comparison. She shook her head and hurried after Mildred. Sometimes she really asked herself if the older girl was sane or not though she genuinely liked Mildred due to their similar personalities.

After being led to the bedroom, Sybil was relieved to find Ethel. Her relief did not last. Ethel was sitting on a corner of Mildred's bed, which was probably the softest thing she could sit on, idly stroking Tabby who was definitely giving the older girl some affection, but Sybil immediately saw that her sister was upset.

"E-Ethie?" Sybil whispered, worried as she recalled what Mildred had described nitroglycerine. While she didn't know what the chemical did, she knew about explosive potions ingredients, and as a result, she could understand what Mildred was describing and the last thing she wanted was to push her sister so she exploded with anger.

Ethel looked up when she heard her little sister's question. Sybil gasped when she saw the expression of utter hopelessness and despair on her sister's face.

"Ethel, what happened?" Sybil whispered again.

Ethel looked down with a sigh. "Hardbroom. I swear that woman should be sacked. Every potion lesson she says I should change my posture, telling me I need to stand upright," she began.

Sybil closed her eyes in irritation, wondering why Hardbroom even bothered. She kept repeating herself again and again. Telling Ethel to stand up all the time, telling her to not sit down. It was stupid.

"She also compared me to Esmerelda," Ethel went on, making Sybil let out an annoyed groan. If telling her sister to stand upright when she was clearly in pain when that in potions lessons wasn't bad enough, comparing Ethel to Esme was sure enough to spark off her sister's rage though Ethel had calmed down a lot since Esmerelda had taken them away from their so-called parents. "Going on about how Esme would've coped with my type of injury."

Sybil couldn't help it, she snorted. "I doubt that," the younger girl said. "But knowing the teachers, HB would sing Esme's praises even if she collapses!"

Ethel winced, and Sybil instantly felt awful, knowing how that sounded. "O-oh Ethel, I-I'm sorry," Sybil said timidly, knowing Ethel well enough to know she would lash out, but the older girl shook her head. "No, I know that," Ethel said sadly, "it's just I don't like thinking about my injury."

Mildred licked her lips, remembering how she'd found Ethel lying on the ground, hopeless.

"I know," Sybil whispered, leaning in and gently resting her chin on the curve of Ethel's head.

But Ethel had more to say. "She also said you and I were both useless, and we would not be as good as Esme, and we would need to grow up if we want to become witches," she said with a choked sob.

Sybil stiffened and she wrapped her arms tightly around her older sister, trying hard not to lose her own emotions while Mildred took a deep breath at what Hardbroom had said.

The touching moment was broken when Miss Hardbroom transported herself inside Mildred bedroom. The surprise arrival made all three girls jump in shock, but all three of them quickly regained composure, and when they got that their surprise turned to barely hidden malevolent annoyance.

Miss Hardbroom was slightly taken by surprise by the negativity she was getting from the three girls, but she ignored it though she made a mental note to try to investigate later while she focused her attention on Ethel and Mildred, surprisingly. "I have spent the last ten minutes looking for you, Ethel Hallow," the teacher began, unable to take her eyes off of the eldest blonde witch in the room with the brunette girl, "and I must say I am delighted there is no more of this frankly pathetic, childish feud between you two. You have to admit myself and Ada had the right idea of getting you two through it so then you both grew up."

Mildred had to walk over and place her hand on Ethel's shoulder, making the blonde girl look into her eyes where Mildred could see for herself the same astonishment she was feeling towards Miss Hardbroom for that arrogant remark. Mildred shook her head, hoping Ethel was smart enough to read the message and not react to the rather stupid remark Miss Hardbroom had just stated.

Fortunately, Ethel was smart enough to say a word, though Mildred could see that Miss Hardbroom had surprised her once again. Mildred knew how she was feeling, and she just could not believe the sheer arrogance behind Hardbroom's words and was also thick in her voice. It wasn't lost on Sybil, either. The younger Hallow sister was staring at the woman with confusion and barely hidden annoyance towards the woman's hubris.

All three girls knew Hardbroom had just told a really bad lie.

Mildred and Ethel's fights were legendary in Cackles, and all for the wrong reasons. The teachers had not done a thing to stop or even to mitigate the worst of them, they stopped a few of the fights when they became really bad, and they were usually always on Mildred's side which only led to an even deeper wedge driven between her and Ethel, but the teachers could have done something more worthwhile and actually sat them down and made them talk, partnered them up together, or something along those lines.

The closest they had actually managed to make things more or less okay was that time where Miss Cackle applied that Friendship trap on them, but truthfully it hadn't worked because both girls actually had more in common with each other that made it virtually impossible for them to get along, and after that nothing had changed, but the teachers still didn't get the hint.

The only reason why Mildred and Ethel were getting along with one another nowadays was that both girls had grown older, and with Ethel's injury and Mildred's story of being injured herself, things had become more amicable. The teachers, with their 'let them sort it out themselves' attitude, really did not have the right to claim credit, but truthfully Mildred wasn't going to say anything to contradict the woman. She knew from long experience nothing good would come out of it.

"The Hallow sisters are always welcome in my bedroom, Miss Hardbroom," Mildred said, at last, putting special emphasis on the word 'welcome' as she looked at the older witch.

She knew it was a bad idea, but Mildred frankly did not care. She was just _**sick and tired** _of this woman appearing in her bedroom whenever she felt like it, but what she had said to Ethel was awful.

Miss Hardbroom raised an eyebrow at what Mildred said, though whether or not she picked up what Mildred had said, none of the girls knew, nor did they particularly care. Fortunately, Miss Hardbroom got to the point as she looked at Ethel with her familiar cold dark eyes.

"It seems you don't learn from your mistakes, Miss Hallow," she said, "I heard that you lost your temper and shouted at a group of second-year girls."

That was too much for Sybil. "The same second-year girls who won't leave my sister alone?" the younger Hallow girl asked back, knowing it was a bad idea, but she was sick and tired of Miss Hardbroom as well. "The same girls who were mocking her, calling her evil without realising my sister just wants to be left alone-?'

Miss Hardbroom got over her astonishment of a student speaking back to her pretty quickly. "SILENCE!" she yelled and Sybil jumped back in fright. The yell also startled Tabby, who jumped off of the bed and rushed underneath it.

Miss Hardbroom sneered at the reactions of the young witch and the cat, whom she had always considered being a poor excuse for a witch's familiar, but she eyed Sybil maliciously as she looked at Ethel. "It seems you share your sister's uncontrollable and senseless temper, Miss Hallow," she whispered at Sybil though most of her attention was fixed on Ethel, "therefore you shall both share detention."

That was too much for Mildred. She had twice overheard those second-year girls and she hated the fact the girls, and even a few of the teachers in this school were just as bad, if not worse, with their bigotry towards other people who had problems walking. It reminded her of the way she herself had been treated when she'd suffered that injury a long time before she came to Cackles. She would never forgive or forget the way she had been laughed at by her peers but seeing how Ethel was being treated made her angry as well as physically ill.

"Yeah, but what will happen to those girls, Miss Hardbroom? They're the ones responsible for Ethel losing it," Mildred spat at the potions mistress, though she wasn't stupid enough to say it was the teacher's own fault for bullying Ethel in the first place, "and they still went on. Are you just going to let them get away with it because you agree with them?!"

Okay, she knew what she had done was verging on suicide, but Mildred simply did not care. The teachers had made the mistake of just turning a blind eye to Ethel when the blonde girl had been a bully, and now it looked like they were going to do the same thing again. But before Mildred could actually make her case, Miss Hardbroom, who had become seriously aggravated by the constant interruptions, shouted at Mildred. "Detention, all of you! You will all serve detention with me tomorrow at lunchtime!" Miss Hardbroom glared at all three of the girls, spitting fury.

Mildred looked at the woman witheringly, though compared to the glare the Hallow girls unleashed regularly, it wasn't very powerful though. She didn't notice Sybil and Ethel's astonished looks. Both girls were amazed that Mildred would go that far to defend them.

* * *

When Esmerelda arrived to pick the girls up, she realised immediately there had been trouble just by looking at the expressions of her sister's faces. To make matters worse Miss Hardbroom was lurking nearby, and Esmerelda didn't need to be a mind-reader to guess the witch was responsible for her sister's current mood.

_What now?_ she thought to herself with an inward scowl._ What the hell have you done now to my sisters? Can't you and Cackle just leave us alone?!_

Esmerelda didn't bother looking at the woman; it might have been slightly petty, but she just didn't care, and she looked at her sisters. "Come on, you two," she told Ethel and Sybil, her eyes promising to find out what had happened. Esmerelda turned her back on the witch, knowing the insult would drive the woman mad. Turning your back was one of the worst insults in magical society, but she did not care, while she gently placed her hands on her sister's shoulders and she concentrated on transporting them back to their flat without once turning to speak to Miss Hardbroom. There was nothing the woman could say to either her or her sisters that she particularly wanted to hear, and besides she could tell with the unhappy glances Ethel and Sybil were continually sending towards the teacher Miss Hardbroom was responsible for their misery before she summoned her magic to trigger the spell…

…..and they arrived back at their flat. Esmerelda smiled at her sisters, though it was tinged with sadness. She knew it would take a while to find out what Miss Hardbroom, or even what Miss Cackle said if she was involved though Esmerelda would deal with it in time, had said to Ethel and Sybil. But she was going to find out if it were the last thing she ever did.

Not wasting any time, Esmerelda dragged both girls (well, dragged as best as she could since Ethel used crutches, but she did what she could) and sat them on their chairs in the dining room.

Esmerelda made them all three mugs of hot chocolate and put some biscuits on a plate before sitting down herself. All three sisters drank some of their hot chocolate, and Sybil snagged a couple of biscuits but she didn't elicit a reaction from Ethel. That worried Esmerelda since Ethel would have said at least something, but whatever Hardbroom had said to the girls it was bad.

"Okay, what happened?" she asked them bluntly.

Ethel and Sybil glanced at one another, and Ethel sighed. "We've got detention tomorrow, but it was Hardbroom's fault," Ethel began, "she's the one who started it off."

"What do you mean?" Esme frowned.

"Miss Hardbroom kept me in the potions lab after I had potions today," Ethel explained, "at first she wanted to speak to me about my work, but she instead told me about my posture, how I should learn how to stand up straight while holding myself up. Hardbroom conveniently forgot that the reason I have such a bad posture," she did something between a snort and a sneer to show off her disdain, "

Esmerelda's face darkened as she became angry. "Go on," she said shortly.

Slightly worried about her elder sister's mood and current frame of mind, it took Ethel a moment to choose the next words she wanted to say. "She told me you would have done better if you'd been injured. In fact," Ethel added in an annoyed voice, "that was the running theme behind the whole meeting."

Esmerelda groaned and looked down into her cup of hot chocolate._ Why,_ she wondered, _why the hell does that woman does that, comparing my sisters to me? She's not helping the situation._ "What else happened?" Esmerelda realised when she realised she had been silent for a while when she noted her sister's worried looks they were sending her.

Ethel sighed, knowing Esme was not going to like this part. "Miss Hardbroom then began insulting Sybil, saying that we would never be as good as you, and we both need to stop acting like stupid little girls and become serious witches."

She paused so then she could watch Esme's reaction, and she wasn't in the least bit surprised when she saw the fury building in Esmerelda's face. She shook her head. "I was furious all day, but I managed to keep my cool until I heard a few second years pointing and talking about me."

Sybil sighed and nodded. "They called her evil," she added for the benefit of her big sister to make her see where they were coming from, but her addition only made the nightmare worse in Esmerelda's mind. The eldest sister knew only too well just how many painful mistakes Ethel was responsible for, but the monstrous thing was the girls had no right, no right whatsoever to judge someone they genuinely did not know.

It was bad enough the teachers were hypocritical to the point of stupidity, thinking they could keep on expecting Ethel to turn out nasty and cruel, but if they kept pushing her what else did they expect? It was only a relief now they were free from their parents - more or less - Ethel had been given a chance to turn over a new leaf, but if people kept pushing her...

"I just lost it," Ethel said shortly, not really seeing much point in telling Esmerelda what she meant by that; her elder sister knew their tempers only too well, and to be honest she didn't see the point because she was so tired. "I would have gone on if Mildred hadn't pulled me away."

Esme gawped. "Mildred pulled you away, and you let her do it? That sounds nice of her."

"It was the only thing stopping me from murdering those girls," Ethel replied seriously.

Esme closed her eyes and groaned, mentally asking herself if Miss Hardbroom was deliberately doing this to cause her problems though she wouldn't be surprised. But it was irrelevant; she was furious with how those second-year girls seemed to think they knew Ethel, but when she looked up she saw Sybil's expression and her heart sank into her stomach. She knew much worse happened. A lot worse.

Esme decided to find out later what her littlest sister had found out, right now she needed to give Ethel some TLC. "What happened then?" she asked Ethel.

"Mildred took me to her bedroom to wait while she went to find Sybie."

Sybil wondered if she should say what Mildred had described Ethel as, but she decided to not say a word. She didn't know how Ethel would react, and she definitely didn't want Esmerelda to go straight to Julie Hubble and have a go at the woman for something Mildred had said. It just wasn't worth it.

"I told Sybil what happened with HB," Ethel went on, and then the woman herself appeared in the bedroom. She snorted. "You can tell Mildred absolutely hates it whenever Hardbroom just appears like that, but Hardbroom had the gall to take credit for me and Mildred having a better relationship!"

Esmerelda closed her eyes and had to stop her own laughter from tearing through her chest and up her throat. She couldn't understand the logic behind Hardbroom's attempt to claim she and Cackle were the ones to stop this feud, though in a way their approach to simply leave Mildred and Ethel to their own devices had worked, though truthfully it would have been better if they had tried to make both girls settle their differences earlier rather than let it take this long.

She reopened her eyes. "I don't understand it either," she reassured both girls, "but what happened then?"

Ethel looked away and stared into her hot chocolate. "She came to the bedroom because she had heard what had happened with those girls, and she took their side."

"I had a go at her," Sybil piped up, blushing slightly when Esme turned her gaze over to her to fill her in about the worst of this virtual nightmare. "I argued the girls had mocked her, how they wouldn't leave her alone."

"We both got a detention for it," Ethel went on, making Esmerelda look at her with anger, though she knew there was nothing she could do about it. "Mildred's got one as well. She pretty much accused Hardbroom of agreeing with those girls' stance. We're now going to be sharing detention at lunch tomorrow."

Esmerelda didn't know how to react. On one side she wanted to travel back to the school and have a go at the teachers - Cackle and Hardbroom - for turning a blind eye and even aggravating Ethel to the point where she'd lash out as she had, while also having a go at those kids for making judgements about her sister for her mistakes. But on another side, she wanted to drag Ethel, Sybil, and Mildred into her arms and smother them with kisses for standing up to Miss Hardbroom. But on the other hand, she didn't want to send either of her sisters back to that school where they'd receive such abuse.

"I've been misjudging Mildred, haven't I?" Ethel whispered. "The fact she was willing to serve detention with us... it means she's not what I thought she was, right?"

Esmerelda and Sybil shared a look before they answered the question together. "Yes."

* * *

As she stood in the headmistress' office the next day, Esmerelda wasn't sure whether or not to roll her eyes at how predictable her former teachers were or if she should cry with the frustration they seemed determined to cause her problems. She'd had a gut full last night because of the mess Cackle and Hardbroom had caused Ethel (she was not sure if Cackle had been involved, but it wouldn't put it past the woman to make HB say something to Ethel, not anymore; it was just sad the pair of them could not leave the Hallow sisters alone).

"I was telling Ethel that she should stand up straight, and then she lashes out at a group of second-year girls," Miss Hardbroom was saying, "later on she and Sybil, and Mildred Hubble, spoke back to me."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say to my sister if I'd been the one who'd been hurt, I would stand up straight brewing potions when I'd probably be in the same position Ethel's in, trying to not fall to the ground?" Esmerelda snapped back at the woman, who didn't even react to the loss of temper. "You know," Esmerelda went on, refusing to give her momentum up though she was not what she was going to get out of it, "I am amazed you feel you have the right to tell my sisters, who are Hallows, that they are shaming the Hallow name by acting like 'silly little girls,' I think you referred to them as?"

Judging by the dark looks she was getting from both teachers, Esmerelda knew she was not going to have a good time.

Nothing new there.

* * *

Until the next one-shot.


End file.
